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What Is the Holiest Place for Christians?

Jerusalem, above all the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition places Jesus’ cross and tomb, and what Jesus said about holy places.

aerial view of city buildings during daytime

For most Christians the holiest place in the world is Jerusalem, and within it the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which tradition since the fourth century identifies as both Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus. Catholic and Orthodox Christians honour such sites as holy ground and make pilgrimage part of their devotion. Most Protestants also treasure Jerusalem, while holding, with Jesus in John 4, that no place on earth makes worship holier.

David’s city before it was Christ’s

Jerusalem’s story starts a thousand years before the Gospels. David captured the Jebusite stronghold and made it his capital:

“And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus…” (1 Chronicles 11:4, KJV)

His son Solomon built the temple there, and it became the one place where Israel offered sacrifice. That is why the Gospels treat Jesus’ last ascent to Jerusalem as the climax of His ministry: the city of the temple is where the final sacrifice would be made.

Where Jesus died and rose

The Gospels place the crucifixion just outside the city wall, at Golgotha, “a place of a skull” (Matthew 27:33), with a tomb close by:

“Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.” (John 19:41, KJV)

In the 320s, Emperor Constantine had a Roman temple cleared from the site the local Christians pointed to, and built a great church over the rock and the tomb. Today the Holy Sepulchre is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches, with Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Christians also present, under a long-standing arrangement known as the Status Quo.

Many Protestant visitors also pray at the Garden Tomb, north of the Damascus Gate, which was proposed as the site in the 1880s. Most archaeologists judge the Holy Sepulchre location more likely, and both sites agree on the point that matters:

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:6, KJV)

people walking on green and brown dome building under blue sky during daytime

Matthew 28:6 — “He is not here”

Where He ascended and the Church began

Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus was taken up from the Mount of Olives, just east of the city.

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9, KJV)

“Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.” (Acts 1:12, KJV)

Luke 24:50 says He led the disciples out “as far as to Bethany,” a village on the far slope of the same mount, so the two accounts describe the same place. Ten days later, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on the believers gathered in Jerusalem, and the Church was born there:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:1-2, KJV)

What pilgrims see today

Visitors walk the Mount of Olives, pray in the Garden of Gethsemane at its foot, and go down to the Pool of Siloam and the Via Dolorosa. Many also visit the Western Wall, but that is a different kind of holy place: it is a retaining wall of the temple mount Herod enlarged, and it is the holiest place of prayer in Judaism, not a Christian shrine.

Outside Jerusalem, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity marks the traditional place of Jesus’ birth, and Nazareth His boyhood home. For Roman Catholics, Rome holds a special place as well, because St. Peter’s Basilica stands over the traditional tomb of the apostle Peter.

Is any place holier than another?

Here the traditions differ, and fairly. Catholic and Orthodox Christians see holy places as witnesses to the Incarnation: God really entered history at a real address, and honouring that ground honours Him. Most Protestants value the sites as history but stress what Jesus told the woman at the well:

“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” (John 4:21, KJV)

Under the new covenant, Paul says, believers themselves are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). And the city Christians finally long for is still ahead:

“For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:14, KJV)

If you ever stand in Jerusalem, read the Gospel account in the place it happened. If you never go, read it tonight where you are: the same risen Lord meets you there.

Frequently asked questions

Who controls the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

No single church. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches share it under the Status Quo, with smaller Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac roles.

Is the Garden Tomb the real tomb of Jesus?

It is uncertain. Most archaeologists favour the Holy Sepulchre site, which Christians identified by the 300s; the Garden Tomb was proposed in the 1880s.

Is the Western Wall a Christian holy site?

No. It is part of the retaining wall of Herod’s temple mount and is Judaism’s holiest place of prayer. Christians visit it respectfully as history.

Do Christians have to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem?

No church requires it. Many Christians find it deepens their reading of the Gospels, but Jesus taught that true worship is in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

What is the holiest place for Catholics?

The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Rome is also especially honoured, because St. Peter’s Basilica stands over the traditional tomb of the apostle Peter.